


Separation

by vvavavoom



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baby Sarada, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, No Uchiha Massacre, Separation Anxiety, Uchiha family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vvavavoom/pseuds/vvavavoom
Summary: She had to leave her precious, perfect, tiny, baby daughter for a whole week.OrSasuke and Sakura have separation anxiety.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106





	Separation

This was by far the hardest thing Sakura has ever had to do.

It was more painful than any physical, mental, or emotional toll she’s been through in her shinobi career. Even thinking about it now made her heart throb and a tears spring to her eyes.

She had to leave her precious, perfect, tiny, baby daughter for a whole week.

To be clear this was definitely not by choice. If it was up to her, she would spend every moment she could with Sarada, but alas, being Konoha’s top medic and kunoichi made it impossible to do so.

Kakashi had made the rare decision to send Sasuke and Sakura on a joint mission to aid a small, neighboring village. It was a simple mission, and the money was too good to pass up on, so Sakura begrudgingly agreed to leave the hospital (and Sarada) in the hands of others.

She just never realized how hard it would be until she was handing her baby over to her in-laws.

“We should have packed enough milk for her to last longer than a week, but in case she runs out, there’s some formula as well.”

Her mother-in-law was smiling along, listening intently to Sakura’s instructions as she held Sarada close. Sakura had been going on for about ten minutes and every time Mikoto thought she was done she would reach out for her granddaughter until Sakura thought of something else and started talking again.

It wasn’t that Sakura didn’t trust Mikoto and Fugaku to take care of Sarada. In fact, they usually watched over her whenever Sakura was working in the hospital and Sasuke was training or on a mission. Sarada absolutely loved her grandparents and Sakura wouldn’t trust leaving her baby with anyone else besides her own parents of course.

They’ve just never been away from their daughter for more than a few hours. Sarada is only seven months old now and was constantly doted on by her loving parents. At least one of them had always been there for her evening bottle feedings, constantly present during her rubber ducky baths, and never missed rocking her to sleep at night. The thought that they wouldn’t be there killed Sakura a little inside, no matter how much the logical part of her brain told her that Sarada would be well taken care of.

“And if she gets fussy at bedtime, we usually give her Dino-chan, you remember Dino-chan, she likes holding on his tail while we rock her.” She paused for a moment before remembering something else. “Oh! And please take as many pictures as possible I don’t want to miss her first crawl-”

“Sakura.” Sasuke stepped close to his wife to interrupt. “If we don’t leave now, we’re going to be late.”

“I know, Anata.” She waved him off. “I was just giving your mother some last-minute tips.”

Mikoto gave her most comforting smile. “Don’t worry Sakura-chan, everything here will be just fine, right Sa-chan?” She playfully tweaked the baby’s little foot. Sarada happily babbled in her mother’s arms, completely unaware of the situation.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, it’s just hard…” Sakura pressed her face into her baby’s silky hair, holding her just a little bit tighter. “I’ve never been away from her for so long.”

“She will be fine.” Sasuke placed a hand on her back to assure his wife. “We should be leaving now.”

Sakura had little tears in the corners of her eyes as she bid her daughter farewell, giving her about a thousand little kisses on the face, promising to return as soon as possible. After quickly passing her to Sasuke and bowing to Mikoto, she scurried out of the room before either of them could see her tears.

Sasuke thought his wife was being extremely over dramatic about the situation. His parents were more than capable of taking care of their daughter for a few days. Nothing was going to happen.

That is, until it was his turn to bid Sarada farewell. He would never admit it, but it was extremely difficult to give her up once she was in his arms. His baby had just recently learned how to say ‘Papa’ and was repeating the word as he held her in his arms. Sasuke also pressed his face into her hair, inhaling her scent and kissing her on the crown.

“Be good for Obaasan and Ojiisan.” He whispered and then passed her over to his mother. Sarada’s large onyx eyes scrunched closed as he gently tapped her on the forehead with two fingers. “Until next time.”

He thanked his mother, once again reminding her when they would return and then set out to meet Sakura outside. Each step away from them he couldn’t help but feel like he was leaving his heart behind, each beat begging him to turn back.

“Are you ready?” He asked Sakura, who was facing away from him and rubbing at her face.

“I’m going to kill Kakashi-sensei.” Sakura grumbled as she wiped away her tears.

Sasuke huffed a laugh and placed a hand on Sakura’s head. “Come on, she will be fine.” He had to be the levelheaded one in this situation, knowing that if they didn’t leave now, they probably never would. But that didn’t stop him from glancing back at his parent’s house as they turned onto the next street.

The journey leaving Konoha was uneventful, the husband and wife sharing few words as they hastened to reach their destination on time. Once arrived, there wasn’t much time for Sasuke to mull over Sarada’s absence as he was kept busy with his assigned duties. It wasn’t until late evening that he was finished and made his way to the hospital to pick up Sakura. It took a little bit longer than he liked, but he was able to pull Sakura away and lead her back to the inn.

Sakura brightly recounted her day to him on the walk back, talking cheerfully until she trailed off, holding onto his arm for support. Sasuke looked down at her curiously, wondering why his wife had uncharacteristically not finished her story until he saw what she was staring at.

A mother walking with her baby down the opposite end of the road. The baby looked to be a few months older than Sarada, and a boy, but apparently that was all it took.

Sakura sniffled, holding Sasuke’s arm close. He sighed and quickened his pace, hoping that once they had some dinner and a bath she would feel better.

She didn’t.

Dinner was too quiet. And as much as he appreciated the peace they shared, there wasn’t an adorable baby between them that somehow always got her mashed carrots and green beans all over her face. Bath time was too serene. As much as she enjoyed relaxing in a hot bath with her husband, there wasn’t a happy baby splashing her bubbles everywhere in glee. Bedtime was too uneventful. There was no sleepy baby to sing to or rock to sleep, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.

Even though Sasuke and Sakura were tired and alone, they couldn’t find it in themselves to take advantage of the situation. As they laid together on the futon, staring at the ceiling, neither could succumb to sleep. About half an hour passed before Sakura interrupted the silence.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Aa.” Me either.

“I miss her.”

“Aa.” Me too. 

“Do you think she misses us?”

“Aa.” I’m sure.

Sakura sat up, clearly upset. “What if she’s crying because we’re not there? What if she doesn’t like the dinner I packed for her, or worse!” She gasps, “What if she starts crawling and we miss it!”

“Sakura.” Sasuke tries to comfort her. “Sarada is in good hands, you know that.”

“I know! I’m sorry, I just- I just feel so- so empty without her.” She looked down at her arms like there was something missing inside them. “I hate that we can’t be there with her and I know that I’m being unreasonable, I know that. I just feel like I need her with me, and it hurts being so far away.”

He stayed silent, not really sure what to say. Today did feel a lot emptier without Sarada in it. He tried recalling what him and Sakura used to do with all the free time they used to have, and he kept coming up empty.

“Hn, all we can do now is finish this mission as fast as possible, so we can be reunited again.”

Sakura gave a long, suffering sigh and flopped back down on the bed, laying an arm over her eyes. “This is going to be the longest week of our lives.”

“Aa.” He agreed and gently lied next to his wife, pulling her into his embrace.

It was in fact, the longest week of their lives. They were both extremely busy, helping get the village up and running again, Sasuke getting a police force up and running and training the men and women in the basics, while Sakura tended to the wounded and helped jumpstart the hospital. But that didn’t stop them from missing Sarada any more than they already did.

By the end of the mission, they were both eager to get back to Konoha and bully Kakashi into never giving them joint missions ever again.

By the time they reached the main Uchiha house it was late afternoon. Sasuke knocked as they entered, announcing their presence. His mother and father had been expecting them home today, so he knew they wouldn’t be surprised to see them. What he didn’t expect was to find his elder brother playing with Sarada in the living room. Itachi was lifting her above his head, making Sarada giggle while Mikoto clapped along and Fugaku smiled in appreciation.

The young parents watched the lovely scene, both wondering why they ever worried when their precious daughter was in such good hands.

“Welcome back!” Mikoto cheerfully welcomed them in and soon everyone was standing, greeting them. Sakura wasted no time scooping Sarada in her arms, cuddling her as close as possible without squishing her. Sasuke simply placed his hand on the baby’s head, basking in her presence.

“How was she?” Sakura turned to Mikoto, bouncing the joyful baby in her arms.

“Oh, she was a dream.” Mikoto smiled warmly, “She behaved so well, didn’t you Sa-chan?” Sarada chirped, very happy to be the center of attention.

“Did we miss anything? Any new words or foods? Did she crawl? Please tell me she didn’t crawl yet.” Sakura begged.

Mikoto laughed, “No not yet, but she’s almost there!”

After a few minutes of catching up, the young family said their goodbye’s. As they were about to step outside Itachi stopped Sasuke and handed him a thick envelope, neatly closed with a string.

“Open it when you arrive home.” He instructed before poking his younger brother on the forehead.

Later that night after balance has been restored to the little Uchiha family’s routine and Sarada has been fed, bathed, and rocked to sleep, Sasuke remembered the little package that Itachi had handed to him.

He sat on the couch and carefully opened it revealing a stack of photos that must have been taken in the past week.

All of them had Sarada. Some by herself but most of them with a member of the Uchiha family. There were photos of Mikoto playing with the baby. One of Fugaku sitting at the table watching the news while feeding Sarada her bottle. So many of various, aunts and uncles and clansmen that had come to visit and stayed for the company of the Uchiha princess. There was another of her being held by Fugaku again in the police station, surrounded by all of his officers. Mikoto taking her on a walk around the compound. Shisui playing peekaboo with his Anbu mask. Izumi making funny faces at her. Itachi sitting with her on the engawa.

Every new photo made the warm feeling in his heart grow and soon he had a contented smile on his face. At one point Sakura had looked over his shoulder to see what he was smiling at and now was curled up next to him as they went through the various photos Itachi had taken. Every so often she would laugh at a photo or reach out to touch Sarada’s face in one. They must have spent at least an hour looking through them before Sakura started yawning, announcing it was time for bed.

As they laid together, much more at peace than they felt a week ago Sakura turned into Sasuke’s embrace, cuddling closer to him and whispered, “Sarada had quite the busy week. She sure is lucky to have so many people who love her, ne Sasuke-kun?”

“Aa.” He agreed. “She is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudos and a comment!! Thanks for reading!


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